Most of our customers have their applications hosted on SAP. Therefore, they have stored the data on SAP S/4HANA database.
Lead Consultant at ITC Infotech
Provides good stability and faster accessibility for large data sets
Pros and Cons
- "SAP S/4HANA is the preferred database because of its scalability, faster accessibility, compatibility, and other well-suited features for large data sets."
- "A virtual machine could exist to make everything available on a single deployment."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
SAP S/4HANA is the preferred database because of its scalability, faster accessibility, compatibility, and other well-suited features for large data sets.
What needs improvement?
The product’s pricing could be improved. It needs a high CPU and memory to analyze and compute that data. Thus, it should be natively supported from the cloud platform. We should get the bundled image so installation and configurations are not done manually. All those should come as a bundle learning package. A virtual machine could exist to make everything available on a single deployment. That will save some time for any project timelines.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using SAP S/4HANA for five years.
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
SAP S/4HANA is scalable. We have enterprise-level clients.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is fine since we have good documentation for reference. The deployment requires four hours to complete.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The product is not that cheap, not that expensive. It is costly in computing because these VMs have a huge CPU and utilization. We have a monthly billing, and there are extra costs for the license.
What other advice do I have?
As for the interface, it always depends on the individual. However, there are some recommendations. Ultimately, it is up to the developer to decide how to implement the interface in the back end.
SAP S/4HANA is a good product, but anyone who plans to use it for their application should have the core skills required. It is not something that ordinary people can do, as it requires some expertise. When hosting it on the cloud, such as Azure, Amazon, or Google, it is important to take care of security policies, government regulations, and disaster recovery strategies. You need to plan your design and architecture accordingly.
Overall, I rate it a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. MSP

Business Intelligence Consultant at Deloitte
Great user experience, easy to use, and well centralized setup
Pros and Cons
- "The user experience is quite attractive, and maybe the efficiency around the consolidation part as well."
- "More integration is necessary."
What is our primary use case?
I am one of the implementing partners for SAP, specifically for HANA. I have worked on quite a few projects where I executed transformations with my clients, and I have found that the transformation has occurred. There is value that has been realized.
What is most valuable?
The user experience is quite attractive, and maybe the efficiency around the consolidation part as well. Everything is in one place, and the ease of use is significant. There is a lot of real-time interaction, and people have highlighted the efficiency and insights that come with it.
Pure Infinity is especially effective in improving the user experience, and the preconfigured apps facilitate and expedite implementation time. From the governance point of view, I've seen positive changes, especially in finance and the transport management system as well.
What needs improvement?
More integration is necessary. Some struggles remain, especially regarding SAP's integration with other SAP modules. For example, integration between S/4HANA and Business for Logistics needs improvement. These issues exist within the integration space and present challenges during implementation.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for almost over six years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
There are quite a few factors to consider, which may not be necessarily attributed to SAP and instead to other players. For example, issues related to the public cloud version, such as connectivity, could impact product stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scale is quite significant. It is very scalable, to be honest.
How are customer service and support?
I have a very good relationship, so I would rate it an eight out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup might be less straightforward, around four to six out of ten. Some elements are not as easy as one might expect.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It's quite expensive, to be honest. Technical upgrades, especially for those moving to SAP Cloud, can be significant. The cost might range between two to three million US dollars.
What other advice do I have?
SAP for Canada is my primary job. Depending on the market, I focus on ground sales and private clouds. It's a good product.
I would rate the overall solution an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Last updated: Jan 17, 2025
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SAP S/4HANA
March 2025

Learn what your peers think about SAP S/4HANA. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2025.
861,524 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Provides excellent features and easily integrates with other systems
Pros and Cons
- "It is easy to integrate the solution with other systems."
- "The initial setup was difficult."
What is our primary use case?
The solution supports our business transformation process.
What is most valuable?
The features related to finance are beneficial for our day-to-day operations. It is easy to integrate the solution with other systems.
What needs improvement?
The initial setup was difficult.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We did not face any problems with the product’s stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I rate the product’s scalability an eight out of ten. We have 500 users in our organization. We use the tool daily.
How was the initial setup?
The deployment took one year.
What about the implementation team?
A third-party integrator helped us with the deployment. We needed 40 people for the deployment and three people for maintenance.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The product is expensive. The price must be improved.
What other advice do I have?
I will recommend the tool to others. It is a good solution. Overall, I rate the product a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
System Architect at marudham software solutions
Streamline financial operations and supply chain management
Pros and Cons
- "The processing time has been reduced, and the screens have become more intuitive, leading to a faster user experience."
- "SAP S/4HANA is a robust front-end solution compared to other web technologies available. However, screen design in SAP EFI might not be as extensive."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution for transaction purposes.
How has it helped my organization?
SAP S/4HANA has streamlined financial operations and supply chain management.
What is most valuable?
The processing time has been reduced, and the screens have become more intuitive, leading to a faster user experience. Additionally, the integration has improved by 30%. The introduction of new tools, including cellular apps, has made system configuration and readiness much simpler. Compared to previous versions, the latest upgrades offer enhanced features and pre-configured solutions, making them highly beneficial.
What needs improvement?
SAP S/4HANA is a robust front-end solution compared to other web technologies available. However, screen design in SAP EFI might not be as extensive.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using SAP S/4HANA for one year.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
200 users are using this solution. SAP S/4HANA is scalable, and the availability of support from others reassures us that scalability shouldn't be a problem.
How are customer service and support?
When seeking assistance, we typically prefer to hold an annual company support conference. When requesting support, we ask for the SCC and some additional support.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
The solution is easy to configure.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The product is affordable.
What other advice do I have?
SAP S/4HANA has improved the response time of all applications. This improvement was noticeable within just two months of implementation.
Developing a system can be time-consuming, but once it's developed, a set of licensing elements is in place. Companies in India do not extensively utilize solution management. Consequently, we face challenges in storing documentation alongside our projects within the system. Exploring alternative methods for storing these documents within the project would be beneficial. However, it's important to note that companies in India may not prioritize solution management as extensively as elsewhere.
The data consistency and integration have been addressed effectively. This has greatly supported us without extensive customization regarding invoicing and other features within SAP.
SAP S/4HANA is more like an extensive, sophisticated system than a giant airline. It's designed to handle large-scale operations efficiently. While it's true that smaller businesses may find it more challenging to adopt due to its complexity and cost, many mid-sized and large enterprises are utilizing it. Different deployment options are available, such as on-premise or cloud-based solutions catering to various business needs. Additionally, while SAP S/4HANA is primarily known for its ERP capabilities, it also offers modules for HR management. However, some industries have found the HR implementation process to be cumbersome.
Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Assistant Manager MIS - Sales Division at National Foods
Offers a user-friendly UI to users
Pros and Cons
- "The user interface of SAP S/4HANA is user-friendly."
- "The product's high cost is an area of concern where improvements are required."
What needs improvement?
Based on my knowledge and experience during the transformation phase with the tool, I think the product provides things in a very planned manner in terms of the data, migration with different phases and testing, and servers to move to, making it a very easy process and very comfortable to move to it from another solution.
The product's high cost is an area of concern where improvements are required.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using SAP S/4HANA for a few days. I am not a user of the tool, but I work as a support in my company to help integrate the solution with some other software products. I look into the secondary sales systems. I am not the core user of the product.
How are customer service and support?
My company's technical team and IT team may have had the need to contact the solution's technical support team.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
My company switched over to SAP S/4HANA from SAP ECC, which was a legacy system and did not operate in real-time while there was need for some customizations leading to different challenges. Globally, every organization has moved to tSAP S/4HANA for improved processes and real-time analytics. I think the core objectives of the founder of the organization stems from the aforementioned details.
How was the initial setup?
The solution can be deployed and implemented in a year because my organization has a very huge infrastructure of SAP. My company has bought different modules and data from SAP, so going through the documentation and everything takes time during the implementation phase.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Whether the product is expensive or not is something that may vary from company to company. If I consider my organization, I feel that the product is a bit expensive. Myorganization is not currently using big modules like S/4HANA and the other different modules. Though National Food Limited is a global organization, I think the tool is costly. National Food Limited wants to grow up with the technology since the founder states that they have a certain benchmark in the world. The product is worth the money.
What other advice do I have?
My background is in providing support for software tools our company uses for order booking and for secondary sales software, which consists of mobile booking for markets and stores. For analytical dashboards, my company uses Power BI, which is connected to the software tools we use in the company. For integrations with SAP S/4HANA, my company has connected a few databases with inbound and outbound APIs.
My company is very satisfied with the tool and I believe that it is going to be a very good transformation for our organization. Before my company used to work on SAP ECC, and now we are migrating to SAP S/4HANA. Everyone in our company has very good experience with SAP. Now, my company is going to go live in a week or two.
My company uses the tool to make end-to-end processes easier, and we have a consultant named Reynold from PwC. My company uses the consultancy service offered by PwC to manage National Foods Limited and SAP.
My company plans to use the tool for real-time analytics or decision-making. I think the founder of my organization admires the fact that with SAP's technology, we are able to use real-time information and it is a good improvement in the strategic area and the directions. SAP Integrated Business Planning (IBP) Forecasting Algorithms can definitely be helpful.
I am not able to comment much about the solution since my company is still in the transformation stage.
The user interface of SAP S/4HANA is user-friendly. In different modules, like financial and production ones, I have experienced the use of the tool with different people who have mentioned that it is a very helpful product for them.
I have worked with Fiori UI/UX and also with SAP IBP and SAP SAC. In SAP, the dashboard can be managed in real-time.
The product helps increase the data processing speed, especially in areas like workflow. When it comes to the financial aspect, the tool provides very strong financial and credit limits, which is a very good feature of the tool, as it can help the organization move to a certain level.
I rate the tool a ten out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Associate Vice President of technologies at Celebal Technologies
Provides real-time analytics and decision-making by leveraging embedded analytics
Pros and Cons
- "SAP S/4HANA has been an excellent integrated solution for my clients, technically much easier to manage than the ECC solution. The embedded AI layer helps adopt intelligent AI directly within business scenarios, which has been very beneficial. These features enhance operations and efficiency for my clients."
- "Extensions to SAP S/4HANA have room for improvement, especially in integration with low-code/no-code platforms. Creating these extensions through Fiori transactions is more tedious than customers would like. Although the SAP build process has become more linear, further improvements could provide a huge benefit."
What is our primary use case?
SAP S/4HANA is the predominant solution from SAP, replacing the earlier SAP ECC. It's widely used for overall enterprise resource planning, including running banking operations and other enterprise functions.
How has it helped my organization?
My client's organization uses SAP S/4HANA for real-time analytics and decision-making by leveraging embedded analytics that are part of S/4HANA. Some organizations integrate specialized BW layers or their own data house layers for analytics, using SCC or BI for visualization. Others extract data from SAP S/4HANA to other hyperscalers or providers to create visualizations.
SAP S/4HANA supports my client's business processes in finance, procurement, and supply chain management through end-to-end management. This is often done with other IT specialists or independently for smaller customers using SAP S/4HANA.
What is most valuable?
SAP S/4HANA has been an excellent integrated solution for my clients, technically much easier to manage than the ECC solution. The embedded AI layer helps adopt intelligent AI directly within business scenarios, which has been very beneficial. These features enhance operations and efficiency for my clients.
What needs improvement?
Extensions to SAP S/4HANA have room for improvement, especially in integration with low-code/no-code platforms. Creating these extensions through Fiori transactions is more tedious than customers would like. Although the SAP build process has become more linear, further improvements could provide a huge benefit.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using SAP S/4HANA since 2013.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's a very stable system overall, but with new attacks targeting customers' SAP landscapes, the latest patches and versions must be applied. I would rate the stability an eight.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of SAP S/4HANA is high, around nine. Typically, my clients are medium or enterprise businesses.
How are customer service and support?
They are not excellent, but they are not bad either.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
How was the initial setup?
I would rate the initial setup of SAP S/4HANA as one because it is challenging. Implementing SAP S/4HANA involves integrating an organisation's processes, including different departments, geographical locations, and compliance requirements. Given the scale of these businesses, such as operations in multiple countries, it's complex and not meant to be simple.The physical deployment of SAP S/4HANA is not a challenge.
The deployment itself might happen within a day or even a few hours, given the accessible hardware. The time-consuming part is identifying the needed components, areas, services, and software. The actual deployment process is simple, but adjusting the software to meet your needs is complex. It's not the physical deployment of the application that is the problem.
SAP S/4HANA is usually deployed on the cloud through its own SAP
mechanism. This allows for deployment on both public and private cloud options.
What about the implementation team?
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Regarding pricing, I don't regularly deal with the financial aspects, but it is not a cheap solution.
What other advice do I have?
When migrating to SAP S/4HANA, productivity initially dipped as organizations adjusted to the previous system. This is due to the need for change management and adapting to the new software. However, once the transition is complete, productivity significantly improves due to faster response times, a more mobile-centric approach, and better data handling. Overall, SAP S/4HANA helps users perform their tasks more efficiently.
SAP S/4HANA might not be able to address all business challenges directly, but other products can be integrated to fill these gaps. For example, difficulties like sustainability or energy rating do not have a direct solution within SAP S/4HANA. Similarly, areas like contact centre or customer call centre management are not directly part of SAP S/4HANA, but partner solutions are available to address these needs.
Overall, I would rate it an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Implementer
Practice Head at Panfish
Helps us provide customers with better visibility, forecasting, and smart data for decision-making, but the pricing should be more flexible
Pros and Cons
- "We leverage the finance and add-on modules of SAP S/4HANA, including Alibaba integration, CRM integration, and production planning. These features are highly configurable and provide excellent visibility into our systems. While I appreciate the introduction of in-memory computing as a feature, I haven't had the opportunity to delve deep into this feature."
- "It would be beneficial if the pricing structure could be made more flexible and adaptable to suit the needs of different organizations.Besides this the scalability also needs consideration improvement. I believe support could be improved by providing more specific and detailed answers rather than generic responses."
What is our primary use case?
We've integrated SAP S/4HANA into our implementation projects for customers, not internally. We use SAP S/4HANA for real-time analytics and decision-making.
How has it helped my organization?
It helps us provide customers with better visibility, forecasting, and smart data for decision-making. This streamlines our business processes, enhancing operational efficiency, saving costs, and providing a 360-degree view of our business processes.
What is most valuable?
We leverage the finance and add-on modules of SAP S/4HANA, including Alibaba integration, CRM integration, and production planning. These features are highly configurable and provide excellent visibility into our systems. While I appreciate the introduction of in-memory computing as a feature, I haven't had the opportunity to delve deep into this feature.
What needs improvement?
It would be beneficial if the pricing structure could be made more flexible and adaptable to suit the needs of different organizations. Besides this, the scalability also needs improvement.
I believe support could be improved by providing more specific and detailed answers rather than generic responses.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using SAP S/4HANA for the past six years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability could be made easier. While it's theoretically scalable, there are practical challenges and complexities that could be addressed for better flexibility and scalability.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support needs to improve.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
The installation is not very simple, rather complex and dependent on the systems. The maintenance can be challenging due to frequent product changes and a lack of subject matter experts for quality support. It's essential to have a strategic approach to understand product changes before implementing them to ensure stability.
What other advice do I have?
SAP S/4HANA has its pros and cons like any other product. It offers a lot of features, particularly the robust finance module and supply chain capabilities. However, there are areas like HR processes that could use improvement. Overall, it's a good product that competes well based on factors such as pricing, flexibility, scalability, and configuration options. I will rate it seven out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Integrator
Owner at Slim
Stable solution but lacks a native cloud solution
Pros and Cons
- "It is a very scalable solution. We have enterprise-level businesses using this solution."
- "The customer service and support are average. There is room for improvement in response time."
What is our primary use case?
Customers reach out to me when they have challenges related to licensing and contracting costs associated with it.
What is most valuable?
Customer choose this solution because they want to transition away from Oracle or because they are compelled to go for SAP.
What needs improvement?
Oracle has its own data center, hardware, virtualization layer, and database. They offer a complete solution, which SAP currently can't match. This is a weak point in SAP's proposition.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for the last 20 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is a very scalable solution. We have enterprise-level businesses using this solution.
How are customer service and support?
The customer service and support are average. There is room for improvement in response time.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
It is easy to install. Our clients deploy it on the cloud or on-premises.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It's quite expensive. However, it can be expensive to maintain the solution.
The licensing varies because I serve multiple customers, and there isn't a one-size-fits-all solution. There are additional costs for technical support and consulting
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I have a background in Oracle, I'm making a few comparisons between Oracle and SAP. I fully understand SAP's strategy to move their customers to S/4HANA. However, when we consider the developments in ERP suites in the cloud, especially Oracle's approach compared to SAP's, I lean more towards Oracle from a solution perspective. Oracle provides a native cloud solution that integrates everything seamlessly.
On the other hand, SAP, especially if you're using the right solution, essentially involves deploying older on-premises SAP software on a hyperscaler, which we refer to as a "cloudified" solution. This, in my opinion, isn't as strong in the overall proposition.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend thoroughly evaluating other options and ensuring a clear understanding of the associated risks and costs before making a decision.
Overall, I would rate the solution a six out of ten because there is always room for improvement and SAP lacks a native cloud solution.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. MSP

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